Professor Kenneth Attafuah
National Identification Authority (NIA) says it will begin the registration of Ghanaians living abroad next year.
Registration will be carried out by staff of Ghana’s missions in the countries where Ghana has a diplomatic presence.
The Executive Secretary of NIA, Professor Kenneth Attafuah who made this known at a press soiree organised in Accra for journalists explained that using staff of Ghana’s missions abroad is a statutory requirement and the NIA is committed to observing it fully.
“The registration of Ghanaians abroad comes at a fee to them. Ghanaians in the West African sub-region will pay the equivalent of $30 while Ghanaians in the rest of Africa will pay a fee slightly lower than that to be paid by Ghanaians living in Euro-American countries.
“Ghanaians in the Euro-American countries are required to pay the equivalent of US$50 [in the currency] of the country in which they live. It is part of the revenue model that underpins this whole public–private partnership arrangement with Identity Management Systems Ltd,” the NIA executive secretary mentioned.
He added that “It is part of the reason why we are able to give the Ghana Card to every Ghanaian living in Ghana for free but every Ghanaian living outside Ghana has to pay for that.”
Professor Attafuah announced that the NIA will commence registration of all refugees in Ghana from Saturday 19, November 2022.
He said the pilot registration is targeting roughly a hundred refugees, and the NIA is liaising with the Ghana Refugees Board to ensure that the exercise continues smoothly and that ultimately, only eligible refugees living legally in Ghana get on to the NIA database.
By Vincent Kubi